GENEVA, Feb. 26 -- Some 120,065 refugees and migrants have reached European soil by sea since the beginning of the year, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said Friday.

Most of these arrivals, or 111,099, have been reported in Greece, with the remaining 8,966 taking place in Italy.

These numbers represent a sharp increase from the same period in 2015, when 11,834 people reached European shores in the first two months of the year.

With the number of arrivals continuing to rise, IOM figures reveal that 418 people have died while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe.

Most fatalities, or 321 deaths, have been observed on the eastern Mediterranean passage separating Turkey and Greece.

The remaining 97 deaths have been recorded on the central Mediterranean route linking North Africa with Italy.

Over one million migrants reached Europe last year, most of them, or 853,650, via Greek islands.